Thai protesters prepare for mass rally, angered by crackdown on opposition TV and Web sites

Thai protesters defy crackdown, plan capital rally

BANGKOK — Thousands of anti-government demonstrators fanned out Friday to rally sites in the Thai capital for what they warned would be an “unforgettable” effort in their monthlong campaign to oust the government.

Although it has declared a state of emergency, the government has shown no signs that it would try to use force to stop the demonstrations. On Thursday, it blocked an opposition TV station and dozens of Web sites, trying to control escalating anti-government rallies with censorship instead of violence.

Defiant leaders of the “Red Shirt” movement said they would march to undisclosed locations in Bangkok, pledging to make it the biggest rally yet in their drive to oust Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and force new elections.

Earlier they had planned to rally at 10 sites, but a protest leader, Sean Boonpracong, said that would have spread the demonstrators too thinly and that the rally sites would be fewer though he did not say how many.

Columns of protesters, riding motorcycles and pickup trucks, moved out of their two main encampments, Bangkok’s key commercial district and an area in the historic heart of the capital.

The raucous demonstrations are part of a long-running battle between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 coup that removed him from power. They see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol for the elite who came to power illegitimately, through a parliamentary vote rather than the ballot box.

Abhisit imposed the emergency order Wednesday and canceled a one-day trip to Hanoi for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders as he searched for ways to resolve the showdown without the use of force.

The prime minister went on national television late Thursday to explain the reasons behind the censorship and to announce that arrest warrants had been issued for protest leaders accused of storming Parliament on Wednesday.

“What the government wants is peace and happiness,” Abhisit said. Although the emergency order means the military now has greater power to restore order, both Abhisit and the army know a crackdown could result in bloodshed that would be political poison.

“It is the manipulation of information that is creating hate,” he said. “Late today, we have to some extent stopped the spread of this kind of information.”

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said the media outlets blocked put out false information, including warnings that Abhisit authorized the use of force against protesters, and “the prime minister has ordered people to be killed. That is not true.”

He said authorities had shut down PTV, the satellite television station of the Red Shirts. At least 36 Web sites connected to the opposition were banned, including content from a Twitter page and YouTube. By Thursday evening attempts to access most of the sites within Thailand drew a message saying they were blocked because of possible affects on “the security of the Kingdom, public order or good morals.”

Protesters have camped in Bangkok since March 12 and occupied the capital’s main shopping boulevard since Saturday to demand Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections. A group of demonstrators briefly stormed Parliament on Wednesday, prompting the emergency decree that also allows authorities to impose curfews, ban public gatherings, censor media and detain suspects without charge for 30 days.

Abhisit said arrest warrants were issued late Thursday for seven protest leaders accused of leading the Parliament intrusion. Lawmakers were forced to flee on ladders over a back wall and senior officials were hastily evacuated by helicopter.

Leaders of the Red Shirts, named for their signature attire, have broadcast their fiery rallies and calls to the countryside for reinforcements through a network of Web sites and the popular PTV satellite television station, which was set up and financed by Red Shirt sympathizers.

A number of small community radio stations are also allied with the protesters, who also use mobile phones and social networking to communicate.

Most of Thailand’s television stations are owned by the government, but the country’s many newspapers are privately owned and reflect a wide spectrum of political opinion.

Fired up by the media blackout, protest leaders vowed to make Friday’s rally memorable.

“Tomorrow, let’s make history,” Nattawut Saikua shouted Thursday to a cheering crowd of more than 10,000 supporters along Bangkok’s main shopping boulevard, where upscale malls were closed for a sixth day. “Tomorrow the prime minister will face an unforgettable experience.

“The more we are suppressed, the more we crave freedom,” Nattawut said. He told followers a media blackout “is just the first step for the government to clamp down on us tomorrow morning. If this is so, we’re going to raise our protest to the maximum level.”

Associated Press writers Denis D. Gray, Jocelyn Gecker and Grant Peck contributed to this report.